England and Test Cricket moving forward: Conversations with TNT’s Kate Mason
“It depends from what angle you’re looking at it, but my feeling is that for the team themselves, this is still the future for them”
This is what Kate Mason stated when asked whether Bazball is the way forward for the England Cricket team.
Earlier this year Kate made history as the first female lead presenter of a men’s Test Cricket series in England and is now heading TNT Sport’s broadcast of England’s tour of New Zealand. She shared her thoughts on the English team and their current form under the Bazball mentality directly with the Sports Gazette.
The reign of ‘Baz’ thus far
The term Bazball was coined by Espn Cricinfo editor, Andrew Miller, referring to the style of play England were displaying under Brendon McCullum, whose nickname is ‘Baz’ and as Kate mentioned “himself doesn’t like the moniker”. His ideology saw England deploy an attacking style of play that pushes the boundaries of the traditional low run rate and patience-centric format of Test Cricket.
The carefree approach of this playstyle has garnered criticism from the old guard, particularly from former England opener, Sir Geoffrey Boycott, who essentially called McCullum and any batsman who plays this way an “idiot”.
In the two plus years under McCullum so far, England have struggled to consistently perform with the Bazball mind-set, with most positive results coming on home on soil – having not yet lost a home series under McCullum.
However, the away record speaks differently. Despite a 3-0 whitewash of Pakistan in 2022, more recently in 2024, England were pummelled 4-1 by India and then lost 2-1 to Pakistan, with both defeats coming in south Asian conditions.
With the New Zealand series yet again being on foreign ground, there is a cloud of scepticism forming around McCullum and his approach. Kate however provided a more upbeat and intriguing take on Bazball as to why its the best way forward for England and even Test Cricket.
Bazball for the better
Kate believes the thought process of Bazball meaning “going all out” or “not holding back” often comes from an outside perspective, rather than from within the team. The team is of the belief that it means “being free to express yourself” and “to not feel fear, or limited by the potential you may lose.”
She compared Bazball to the environment Gareth Southgate created for the England men’s Football team, in terms of a “friendly place where players felt protected”, meaning players won’t feel “shut out if they make a mistake, as long as it’s done in a positive way”.
She understood the challenge ahead in New Zealand and beyond, but felt as long as the “positivity” is maintained, Bazball is the best way forward for the England team.
With the introduction of shorter formats such as T20 Cricket and at franchise level, T10 Cricket and The Hundred, the longer Test format has been receiving less following from the global crowd due to the patience it demands from its audience. That is maybe until now, as Bazball brings the rapid style of the shorter formats into Test Cricket.
McCullum’s style of play has seen Test Cricket produce more results, with declarations and rapid batting innings, as most matches do not even last the entire five days. In fact, England’s stellar innings of 823 against Pakistan marked the first time since 1997 a Test side scored beyond 800 in an innings.
Kate agrees with these positive impacts of Bazball, as audiences want to watch “exciting” Cricket. She mentioned how it has influenced other teams to make dynamic tactical decisions in Test matches, leading to some great results.
She specifically cited West Indies’ win against Australia at The Gabba earlier in 2024. There, Australia made an early declaration in the first innings, similar to the Bazball way. This led to a huge upset later on as the West Indies bowled out the hosts in the second innings to win the Test by eight runs.
Kate said: “seeing lots of runs scored and not having to wait for runs” will always see “people coming back”, and Bazball is certainly having that effect on Test Cricket.
The final lap to Lord’s
The 2023-25 season of the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) is coming to quite an exhilarating conclusion, with only a limited number of games remaining, and five nations battling it out for the final two spots at Lord’s in June 2025. While England may be out of the race after the Pakistan defeat, they can be highly influential in deciding the outcome as their upcoming opponents, New Zealand are still in contention for a spot in the final.
Seeing this exciting finale to the league stage, where teams that are eliminated are also crucial in determining the final outcome, the WTC has well and truly established its place as an elite competition, breathing new life into Test Cricket.
Kate’s thoughts were exact as she believes it brings some “momentum” and is a “very simple sell, from a broadcasting perspective” referring to certain series’ and matchups such as New Zealand’s whitewash of India, which has now revived the Kiwis hopes to reach the WTC final, teeing up a dramatic conclusion for their campaign.
This diversity in matchups is “good for Test Cricket” as Kate said, looking again at the game between Australia and the West Indies at The Gabba, as underdog nations get the chance to go toe to toe with bigger opponents and have the opportunity to produce “iconic moments” such as The Gabba win.
Results such as this create a “narrative” that sees people “keep coming back” to the sport. Kate summed it up brilliantly, stating: “all sport is fundamentally a competition and the more you can explain to people why they need to be watching it, the better for the sport”.
